Let me enlighten you.
Grandmaster Flash is the original purveyor of breaks, scratching and general turntable wizardry.
Originally the whole hip hop culture was focused on the ability to play and repeat 'breaks' that being the part of the record that got the crowd excited and gained the most reaction.
At the time there were many dj's like Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore who by using the mixer crossfader were able to repeat these breaks continuously. However there were often pauses and silences between the breaks. When Flash came out and played live for the first time these pauses disappeared, everything was beat perfect.
As has been said before the first time he played out the crowd was stunned into silence,
To witness this first hand do yourself a favour and check out a 12 inch on the original Sugarhill label 'Grandmaster Flash, Adventures on the wheels of Steel'
This encompasses Chic, good times. Blondie, Rapture, Queen, Another One Bites the Dust as well as many other tunes.
The important bit is this tune was done LIVE, in ONE TAKE.
It was a tune that launched the whole hip hop culture and along with Rappers Delight showed what was possible.
This was then followed by a whole series of tunes such as Double D and Steinski, Lessons 1,2, and 3, and in the UK by Tim Simenon, Bomb the Bass, and S Express, and by sound systems like the Mastermind Roadshow.
The best story I ever heard about Grandmaster Flash was about him performing a gig on two SL1200's that were suspended from the roof of the club on chains, legend has it he performed his usual set and never missed a beat.
He's recently had a bit of a renaissance and issued a cd of some of the old block party sets he used to do, check that out as well.
At the end of the day he's a bit like Norman Jay, he's got massive credibility, an awesome knowledge, but put him in a room with a record box, two turntables and a mixer and he'll rock any crowd.
Respect is due.